creek | 2greenthumbs's Weblog

We started off by playing hookey from the Sunday farmer’s market, shhh. It was very nice to not have to get up early and schlep everything in the truck and schlep it all back, but it did feel like I was skipping school and quite possibly was going to receive a call from the principal. Paul did the honorable thing of making breakfast for all of the WWOOF’ers and the family, and we went to work on the farm (not me). We shared lunch as well, and McKenna surprised me with a cake and candles, then she took off for Arizona. THANK YOU MCKENNA! And everyone else for keeping the secret cake in the fridge a secret. After lunch Paul took the kids and I out to the “country” to visit Mark Cain who owns Dripping Springs Farm. Talk about one of the kingpin growers in this area! We had been invited out on several occasions, but those of you who glance in this blogs direction or share the same profession know that the farm never sleeps. But it was a special occasion, so we went. I wore my bathing suit, because I had heard of this epic swimming hole and I was ready to wash the 20’s out of my hair! This farm is off the beaten path, traveling for mile on nothing but dirt roads, did I mention epic? Mark was very nice, taking time to show us around and talk about all of his goings on, we’re such big farm nerds! I feel like I didn’t take enough pictures, but I have some to share, I hope Mark doesn’t mind.

Isaac was asking if he could have a pepper.

Mark picked Isaac a ripe one, purple mmmmm. I’m glad he did, because Isaac might have ripped half of the plant off.

Inside one of his hoop houses.

This is the outside of the structure.

A view from the inside corner.

Another hoop full of snapdragons!

Isaac kept thinking this whole process boring, and kept trying to drag me to the creek. I wanted to go badly too, but I also wanted to finish the rest of the tour. Don’t you realize where we are Isaac? This is Dripping Springs!!!

Onions drying upstairs in his barn.

Garlic curing downstairs in the barn.

There are no pictures of the creek. It didn’t occur to me to bring the camera, but for good reason. The creek/swimming hole was magic, heaven on earth, see to BELIEVE! So, you’ll just have to volunteer some time to gain access…and it’s totally worth it!

Last week a series of thunderstorms rolled through these parts of Arkansas and beyond. Tornadoes touched down further south across several states, the hardest hit being Mississippi and Alabama. Up here, it rained 10″ in 24 hours. The next day more rain fell, causing flash floods in NWA. On the farm, the rain washed down our footpath to our house, which is its natural draining pattern, and washed over my bed which was planted with carrots. It washed over it so much, that eventually cut channels through the bed, washing the soil into the onion bed. We tried to alleviate some of the damage by putting straw bales into the path of the water, but when thousands of gallons are running off of a large roof over a matter of hours, you just can’t compete. We tried, but it did no good. It was interesting talking to some of the farmer’s at the Fayetteville Farmer’s Market today, listening to their stories of what the rain washed away. One farmer said it washed his topsoil away. Another mentioned, how his topsoil didn’t leave his property, but that it had washed to the bottom of the hill. That’s something to think about, right. Your dirt. And how important it is. Treat it well.